2021 at Tate is STACKED with big names
plus: new Rodin sculptures are in the pipeline, and Art Fund’s podcast is a must-listen
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happy Thursday! after nearly 4 months of closure, museums and galleries in the UK have slowly begun to open their doors again. the National Gallery led the charge for the big names, welcoming visitors for the first time yesterday - its revamped (and huge) Italian Baroque gallery is a one of the biggest draws. and in Paris, the world’s most visited museum the Louvre also reopened this week. it feels good to be moving back towards (the new) normality. Tate have even revealed their plans for 2021 like 2020 never happened. (see below).
i try and bring you the whole spectrum of the world of museums in these emails, so this week’s interview is all about a museum podcast, and an excellent one at that. i speak to Art Fund’s Head of Content about their celeb-filled pod which is up for a major award this weekend. we cover the whys and wherefores, and dream guests. enjoy!
catch up // NEWS
treasure hunters! the British public have - quite literally - unearthed 1.5m hidden archaeological objects, the British Museum reveals. Evening Standard
ICYMI. the UK government shocked pretty much everyone with the scale of its emergency bailout for the cultural sector. but there are warnings that even £1.6 billion won’t be enough to save every job. BBC News
mark your diaries. if you can think that far ahead, Tate have revealed their hugely exciting exhibition highlights for 2021. Rego, Rodin and Turner-prize winner Lubaina Himid are my picks. the i paper
“a love letter to Black Britain.” Zadie Smith gets a new portrait for the National Portrait Gallery. Belfast Telegraph
fancy a brand new Rodin? There’s going to a fair few new Rodin sculptures knocking around, as the Rodin Museum in Paris is casting new versions of iconic works to raise cash. Reuters
good news 1. “Delighted” visitors returned to the National Gallery as it reopened its doors. Evening Standard
good news 2. the Mona Lisa has guests once more as the Louvre also reopens in Paris. CBS News
…but one step back. museums and galleries in Melbourne go back into lockdown for 6 more weeks thanks to a coronavirus resurgence. ArtsHub
inSPIREational. covid (what else) delayed the opening of a new contemporary art show at Salisbury Cathedral, but visitors can now finally see works by Antony Gormley and Grayson Perry in this breathtaking building. the Guardian
hair today. an English museum wants your your hair clippings from that first post-lockdown trim. BBC News.
Rubens revealed. layers of dirt and varnish meant this Rubens painting was forgotten for a century… now it’s due to sell for £3.5 million. Daily Mail
listen up // INTERVIEW
podcasts are booming, and the great and the good of the format are being celebrated this weekend at the (now live-streamed only) British Podcast Awards. in the Best Branded Podcast category is Art Fund’s wonderful Meet Me at the Museum, where famous faces take their best mate/their mum/their neighbour/whoever they want for an afternoon at a favourite museum or gallery. the celebs involved include Mel Giedroyc, Edith Bowman, Kirsty Wark, Jackie Kay and Russell Kane, and it’s really been a tonic while museums have been closed. i spoke to Ben Murray, Head of Content at Art Fund to see why the UK’s national art charity has joined the podcast ranks.
congratulations on the nomination for the British Podcast Awards. you must be pleased?
Thanks! It’s actually the second year in a row we’ve been nominated, so we’re really pleased. To be recognised like this feels like a real affirmation of all the hard work that went into creating the show. We didn’t win last time; but I think we’ve refined the concept over the last year, so fingers crossed. There’s some tough competition though!
why did Art Fund commission the podcast?
Lots of reasons. Firstly, we wanted to give our 159,000 members a really high-quality piece of content. Something that captured the experience of going to a great museum and really showcased the social side of visiting. We also thought this was a great way to reach new audiences; people who might not know Art Fund or some of the venues featured. Podcasting felt like the best way to open up museums because you can establish a real sense of proximity with the listener and take them into a different world for half an hour. The medium can be really immersive.
tell me about the logistics, do you give the celebs free rein and record them as they go?
Pretty much. We start with the celebrity as there’s always a reason why they are visiting a particular museum. We tend to go in with a loose framework; an idea of the theme of the episode and then we try and draw that out as we record. But we make a point of remaining open to whatever happens as the visit progresses. Often the best bits come out of nowhere! The best episodes are the ones where the celebrity really gets into it, really gets surprised or inspired by something they see, or comes across with something that chimes with their own life or experience in some way.
which was your favourite episode and why?
Probably my favourite episode is the one where Mawaan Rizwan takes his mum along to the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. It’s warm, funny, thoughtful and really touching. They explored the museum’s amazing collections centred around LGBTQ+ histories and both really got into the experience. It became a catalyst for some deeply honest reflections on their own relationship and how notions of sexuality, identity, ethnicity, and tradition had affected their lives and understanding of one another. It’s amazing!
will there be a next series? which celebs - and which museums - are on your wish list?
Yes, there will indeed! Although, it’s probably going to be delayed due to Covid-19. We’ll still be doing all the pre-production work for series 5 and intend to work really closely with the featured museums, but we need to make sure we do this as safely as possible. In terms of potential guests, well, we did work with Adam Buxton on an episode of his own podcast a couple of years ago and would love to have him; and George the Poet would be amazing. Also, Kate Tempest has been on my list since we first started this!
the museum landscape is very different today to what it was just a few months ago. how is Art Fund responding?
Absolutely. And the challenges to the sector cannot be overstated. We have just launched £2m of funding and partnerships to help support museums and galleries through the crisis. This includes our new Respond and Reimagine grants which are open for applications in three rounds until 12 October. We also have free digital services for museums such as our crowdfunding and ticketing platforms, and we’ve also started fundraising to help us further support museums and galleries over the coming months, and to bring people together to really get behind our museums and help them emerge from this even stronger. Plus we’re keeping in touch with museum professionals through the Museum Bulletin and keeping culture lovers everywhere up to date through Art in Your Inbox.
listen to Meet Me at the Museum here, or wherever you get your podcasts
Paula Rego opens at Tate Britain in June 2021. The Dance 1988. Tate. © Paula Rego
last up // AND FINALLY
museums in the UK are slowly coming back to business, but it’s not easy. this thoughtful Guardian piece on covid-proofing museums – and how they’ll cope with the drastic drop in numbers - is well worth your time.
starting to think about your first post-lockdown holiday? then you can’t really go wrong with Germany's sprawling new sculpture garden in the grounds of a castle.
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